Geva Theatre Center has snagged Emmy Award winner Robert Vaughn, star of "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." and "Washington: Behind Closed Doors," to play Martin Vanderhof in You Can't Take It With You by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman. The 1936 comedy opens Geva's 40th season Sept. 11-Oct. 7 at the Wilson Mainstage in Rochester, NY.

Robert Vaughn

You Can't Take It With You won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It's the "classic screwball comedy that pits the eccentric Sycamore family — prone to spontaneous eruptions of music, dance poetry and fireworks — against the buttoned-up bigwigs of Wall Street and the IRS," according to Geva. "When Alice Sycamore agrees to marry the son of ultra-conservative parents, will true love win out?"

Vaughn might be best known to television viewers for his portrayal of Napoleon Solo in "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." He was Oscar-nominated for his work in "The Young Philadelphians." His movie credits include "Bullitt," "The Towering Inferno," "Superman III," "The Magnificent Seven" and more. He won an Emmy for his portrayal of a presidential henchman in the TV mini-series "Washington: Behind Closed Doors," and was nominated for his portrayal of Woodrow Wilson in the miniseries "Backstairs at the White House."

Vaughn began his stage career at the age of 12 in the Famous Players tent shows in Iowa. He later became the resident director and leading man at the Albuquerque and Santa Fe Summerhouse Theaters in New Mexico, the Tustin Playbox in California and the Los Angeles Stage Society. He appeared on Broadway in Love Letters with Polly Bergen.

Founded in 1972, Geva Theatre Center is a not-for-profit, professional theatre company dedicated to creating and producing professional theatre productions, programs and services of a national standard. As Rochester's leading professional theatre, Geva Theatre Center is the most attended regional theatre in New York State, and one of the 25 most attended in the country, serving up to 170,000 patrons annually, including more than 16,000 students.

The 552-seat Elaine P. Wilson Mainstage is home to a wide variety of performances, from musicals to American and world classics. The 180-seat Ron & Donna Fielding Nextstage is home to Geva's own series of contemporary drama, comedy and musical theatre; Geva Comedy Improv; Geva's New Play Reading Series and the Hornet's Nest — an innovative play-reading series facilitating community-wide discussion on controversial topics. In addition, the Nextstage hosts visiting companies of both local and international renown.

Since 1995, the organization has been under the artistic direction of Mark Cuddy.